


Nicole's Mentor

by Lampshadez



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Ward Earp was an abuser and Nedley enabled him just so we're all clear, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 20:50:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11321481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lampshadez/pseuds/Lampshadez
Summary: Waverly and Nicole have a talk about what really brought Nicole to town and what kind of sheriff Nedley's been.  Set some time shortly after 2x03 but doesn't really deal with the overall season 2 plots aside from the Nicole/sheriff thing.





	Nicole's Mentor

**Author's Note:**

> CONTENT WARNING!
> 
> This story mentions abuse. It doesn't mention anything graphic, but it acknowledges Ward Earp as an abuser and Waverly and Nicole talk about it. So, safe reading, everybody!

“You’re getting pretty close to Nedley, huh?” Waverly asked over dinner at Nicole’s one night.

“He’s my boss,” Nicole said, not sure where this was going.

“No, I know,” Waverly said.  “I mean, it’s nice to have a mentor, I guess.”

‘Yeah,” Nicole said.

“Is that why he recruited you?” Waverly asked.  “To make you sheriff?”

Nicole cleared her throat.  “What?  No.  What?”

“Come on, Nicole, why else would you end up in the middle of nowhere?  You graduated top of your class from the academy, you could’ve gone anywhere you wanted.”

Nicole sighed, a bit defeated.  She loved that Waverly was so clever that she put it together, but also didn’t want this sort of talk getting around.

“He didn’t tell me he was trying to make me sheriff,” Nicole said.  “Not when he was recruiting me, anyway.  But he did mention it the other day, that that was a big part of why he wanted me here.”

“That’s good,” Waverly said.  “I’m happy for you.”

Nicole smiled a bit.  “Yeah?  Thanks, babe.”

“Just, uh…”  Waverly trailed off.

“What?”

“Look, I’ve known him a long time,” Waverly said.  “I’ve been friends with Chrissy forever.  And this town is…”

“Wave, what?” Nicole asked.  She could tell that Waverly wanted to say something difficult and she was concerned.

“Nedley’s a good sheriff….now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know he knows more about what goes on around here than he lets on,” Waverly said.  “It’d be impossible not to.  And I don’t know when he started to put it all together, but Wynonna said it for years and he let everyone treat her like shit.”

Nicole’s jaw clenched.  She knew about that, but she was new in town still.  She wasn’t there for any of it, she didn’t live through any of it.

“And what happened with Daddy…” Waverly’s brow furrowed.  She didn’t like thinking about when she was young and she certainly didn’t like talking about it.  She’d voluntarily brought up that period of her life only a handful of times with Nicole.  “He knew how he was.  What he was.  Everyone knew how he treated Willa, he’d pull her out of school at all hours to train her.  He’d scream at Mama in public, and if she tried to get him from the bar, he’d…”  She trailed off.  She cleared her throat.

“He was an abuser,” she continued.  “And everyone knew.  And Nedley _deputized_ him.  He gave him a badge and a gun and gave him power and it put us all in danger.”

“Waverly…” Nicole tried.  She wasn’t sure what to say.  She knew about a lot of this, sure, but Waverly more or less got along with Nedley.  She took Waverly’s hand on the table.  “Look, I can…I don’t know, I can do something…”

“No,” Waverly said.  “You should be sheriff.  I want you to be sheriff someday.”

Nicole smiled a bit.

“And I don’t think Nedley would do something like that now, I guess…” she sighed.  "Not that that changes anything, but I guess people can change."

“I’m sorry he did it at all.”

“Look, just, be careful with him, okay?” Waverly asked.  “I know your job is your job and I don’t want to interfere but…”

“No, thank you for talking to me about this,” Nicole said.  “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Waverly said.  “There’s just a lot of shit in this town that we all put up with and you’re still kind of new, so…”

“You want to protect me.”

“Yeah.”

“And I want to protect you, too,” Nicole said.  “The Sheriff’s Department won’t be how it was, I promise.”

“Okay, Nicole.”

“I mean it.”

“Okay,” Waverly said.  She smiled at Nicole but let her hand go.  She stood and started to clear dishes.  “I’ll take care of this, go set up the movie, babe.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me not caring for shitty old white men who do bad things who the show inexplicably wants me to be sympathetic to. Yes Nedley was nice to Wynonna in the season 1 finale, but that doesn't change the stuff he's done and the stuff he did in season 2 so far. What do y'all think about Nedley?


End file.
